From Mom to Special Education Advocate

There are so many moments when parents struggle to plead their case against a system that claims to have their child’s best interest at heart but is completely the opposite.   If there is one thing that I can stress to families is the importance of documentation.   This is the difference between having the facts and it being hearsay. So, what am I referring to? Emailed correspondence? Phone calls? Testing? YES, to all the above. Anytime there is a question, issue or just a simple inquiry, you want a paper trail via email. If you have a phone call with a teacher or administrator, you must always recap the conversation with that individual in an email.   The more information you capture regarding your child’s case, the stronger your chances are of not getting push back in your meetings. That’s not to say it will not happen, however, the more documentation the more you can hold those individuals accountable. Learning how to document is essential for every IEP family. Knowing how to play

  Parents are the voices of their children. They know them better than anyone else who is in their lives. Parents understand their child’s feelings, their struggles, and their successes.   Parents are the first ones to make their child feel better when they are hurt, sad and even mad. They understand the volcanic eruption of emotions from children who keep it together all day while they attend school to finally feel safe enough to express their hearts, not always a pretty scene to watch.   But most importantly, parents are the voices for their child’s education when the tables are stacked against them from LEAs whose priorities are backwards in the realm of education.   Parents are the ones who call out the inconsistencies, the lack of accountability, the failures of these schools whose job it is to educate your child.   It is no wonder most parents, especially those with children in special education, are exhausted. Their children are in a world with those that do not want to be bot

I recently had a client I was chatting with, and they were telling me how exhausted they get this time of year especially after the months of advocating for their child’s accommodations only to find out that their child’s goals are not being run. Frustration doesn’t even come close to how this one parent feels.   How many of you have been in this situation or worse?   We send our children to school with the promise of the LEAs that their IEPs and 504s will be followed by the experts that are around our children six hours a day. When situations like this occur, most families become enraged at having been lied to.   Their reaction is to pick up the phone can call their child’s team.   This is where I tell families to stop, take a breath and request the data.   Data?? Yes, this is when you will send an email requesting a mid-semester data review and sample work.   As the parent you can request this at any time throughout the year and do not have to wait until the end of the quarter.   N